Calling All Demons – A Voidcaller Discussion

A few days ago, Blizzard announced a new Warlock card for their first Hearthstone expansion, Curse of Naxxramas. Ever since, the Internet has been flooded by concerned comments and articles, declaring that this single minion has tipped the scale way too much and that Zoolock decks will be even more OP (over powered) than nowadays. In just 24 hours, massive protests have swept the US and Europe, not to mention Asia, where martial law has been declared in China and South Koreans have already made plans to seize control of Blizzard HQ and make sure that this new addition won’t be made.

OK, I may have exaggerated a bit, but you get the idea. Hearthstone players are slightly concerned that the Voidcaller may give Zoolocks even more of an edge that they already have. The ability to put a Demon into play following a Deathrattle is an extremely useful one, especially due to the fact that most Demons can be played for a higher price than just Mana (discarding cards, inflicting damage upon the hero, destroying one of your mana crystals, etc.).

Let me give you a scenario to demonstrate the kind of exploits that can be achieved using this card.Let’s say you have 8 Mana and a hand that contains the following cards:

Let’s say that your opponent has 10 or less health. Or say you have 10 mana, the cards above and a Sunfury Protector and your opponent has enough damage to kill you. Suddenly, the tables may have turned. Or at least you bought yourself some time to fill your own board next turn for a counterattack. This, without a doubt, will become a future combo. It’s an insanely powerful maneuver (throw in a couple of Power Overwhelmings and you’ve got 18 damage right there, even more powerful than the infamous Force of Nature+Savage Roar) and even in the absence of the Doomguard, a possible turn 4 Pit Lord minus the damage or Infernal is an edge that may be a game winner.

The combination of Voidcaller+Sacrificial Pact is no more than a turn 4 (or 3 if you have the coin) Alarm-o-Bot with a single charge, more particular about what card he will put from your hand into the field and can do it instantly (with the Bot, the opponent has the chance to kill it before it gets you a free minion). So, considering the possibilities that this card opens for the Warlock, is it really that OP? In the context of one-turn moves that can shave off a lot of your opponent’s health, I would have to say no. There are a lot of more powerful combos that do way more damage than this one. I mean who could forget the old Leeroy-double Rockbiter-Windfury, or the Stormwind Knight-Power Word:Shield-double Divine Spirit-Inner Fire combo, which knocks 28 health in one turn?

In conclusion, the Voidcaller has the potential to become a constant sight among Warlock decks and revitalize the Demon deck (haven’t seen one in a while, every Warlock is now running Giants or Zoo). Even though it may spawn powerful combos, hey, we got so many already, that what does it matter anymore? More unpredictability=more fun. Or rage, depending on your attitude towards the game. (BTW, with so many Deathrattle cards incoming, I predict multiple Deathrattle-themed decks. Priests, wipe off the dust on your Mass Dispels).

I'm an engineer, currently employed at a financial software company. My interests include gaming, LPing and, of course, reviewing, but also game dev and graphics. Also, in the past I've dabbled in amateur photography, reviewing movies and writing short stories and blog posts. I am also a huge Song of Ice and Fire fan, but that's beside the point. Youtube Channel, Deviantart , Google + , Twitter